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BLW, formula and 9 and half month old..help?

Hi

B is BLW'ed and is 9 and a half months old. He does eat some food but i would say he is still mainly relying on his milk for nourishment. He is having milk 4 times a day (lately just changed from 3 hourly - 5 feeds a day) - 4 hourly and drinks about 6/7 oz at each bottle. Is this enough?

I ask this becasue we have been having a terrible time at night with him waking up lots and by 11pm he is generally awake, crunching up his tummy, uncomfortable and totally un-settleable! We have had to get him up eventually and put a baby einstein dvd on as this is the only way he will let us sit down adn he will chill out. He is heavy now and i find it extremely hard to hold him for an hour or more, especially when i am so tired and have injured both tendens in my wrists

Someone mentioned that he might be hungry?? So now i am worrying about this! This mornign he only drank 6oz of his 8oz bottle so surely he can;t be starving, could he?

I read recently about this age and sleep regression, with the brain development they are going through and all the crawling etc in the cot…that this can affect sleep…so it could be this too. Also, i think his top two teeth may be coming down so perhaps this tummy ache and unsettledness at night could also be to do with this? Its so hard to know whats wrong and whilst i don't want to get in bad habits, he clearly needs comforting and for us to settle him all the time through the night. I am soooo shattered and so is my dh and i am close to tears a lot with the lack of sleep….He's never been a great sleeper

If anyone has any advice i would love to hear form them…feeling desperate and want my LO to be ok.

I would say that if you are offering him more milk than he is choosing to take then it is unlikely that hunger is the problem. Does he take all of his bedtime bottle? The other thing that I have had suggested to me before, and seemed to work, was to try to make sure that their last meal of the day is protein loaded. But until he's a year milk will continue to be his main source of nutrition so don't worry too much about that. What does it suggest on the side of his formula tin for the recommended amount for his age?

In terms of the sleep problems it could be any one of the other things you mention - teeth, brain development, beginning to move around more etc etc - all can have an impact. You say that he seems uncomfortable and is tummy crunching - are his bowel movements normal? If putting on baby einstein works for you all and you're happy with that, then thats fine. I would just be a little cautious that he's not starting to associate waking with getting your attention, being allowed to get out of his cot and sit with you watching tv as a type of 'reward'. Have you ever tried the 'pick up, put down' method?

Like with all of these things, it will pass. Am I right in remembering that you've done some sleep training/got some sleep advice for him before? Is there anything from that that you could try again now?

Thanks for replying. We have never not really had sleep problems apart from when Ben used to sleep on me at the beginning! Which some may call a sleep problem, but we definitely got more sleep in those days than at the moment!

I think deep down i believe he isn't hungry….but when someone suggested it, of course then i was worrying i was starving him!

Interesting you say that the last meal should be protein loaded, as someone else said that, but i was reading the other day it should be carb loaded??!! Today he had minced beef and bean, sweet potato cottage pie! So i guess that is both! The formula tin says 3 feeds of 7oz, so that equals 21oz…but isn;t that more geared at babies that ate traditionally weaned and drop feeds quicker as they get more nourishment from food earlier than baby led weaned babies??

Although he has never slept brilliantly…this is different in the last week

I am worried about the bad habit making, but he doesn't actually want to be up watching tv…he seems to really want to be asleep to be honest and is in pain or discomfort so can;t settle. We did see a sleep specialist and he has slept better since then because we moved him to his own room and we dropped his night feed at 11pm. However we are far from sleeping through the night although this has happened maybe 10 times?! We always try settling him in his cot first and for quite a while too, but when he is curling up looking in pain and drops off to sleep then wakes instantly, we are picking him up. i don;t want to ignore him needing comfort if he is in pain, whether teething or whatever is going on. My friend said teething can cause them tummy ache because of excess acid?? he has had a sore bottom lately and has never had this prior to teething. He only has 2 bottom teeth so far and i can see the tops are coming down, but not out of the gum yet. (i did PUPD with him prior to the sleep specialist and it worked a little bit…we did similar with sleep lady anyway, but tried not to pick him up at all, just rub his back and say reassuring words to him)

So we try settling in the cot first, then lift him out to settle him if he is getting in a state, then we do put him back in cot when calm, usually this works, but lately he then starts arching up his legs etc and almost moaning crying (not the cute moan he does when putting himself to sleep sometimes!). Then after an hour or so of this, is when we have given up and come into the sitting room and put babytv on but he doesn't want to sit down, he wants us to have him upright…he was the same when he had bad colic in the early months, but he was a lot lighter then! He just seems to want to be asleep really. So i don't think he sees tv as a reward - i hope! Its just that its a last resort for us, i guess

I guess it will pass…but its always so hard to believe that when oyu are slap bang in it and you haven't had sleep for over 9 months! LOL! Me and dh don't really have any family back up so we find it quite hard going..especially as dh does shifts too. We don;t have anyone to come and give us an hour off after many nights in a row of no sleep. Anyway, sorry for getting the violins out and wallowing…tiredness does strange things.

Oh hun, you sound shattered, you poor thing. Your description really makesit sounds as though he is in pain - not suprising if teeth are making an appearance. I assume you've tried teething powders, calpol etc?

Thanks bub.
Yes we give calpol with last feed, then teething powder and teething gel -all part of the night time routine!! Which makes me feel terrible like I'm feeding him drugs daily
Can teething really cause this kind of thing for a week? I always thought teething wake up would be just a quick resettling and some gel or something?!

Well we had one good night where he had a couple of early evening wake ups and then slept through from about 1.30/11 until 6am…it was bliss…but last night we were back to the same…he is definitely uncomfortable - i think he has tummy pain/wind…..

I just don;t know what else to do…he needs more sleep, i need more sleep and i am on the verge of tears. I feel so desperate and unable to help him be more comfortable…I feel like a rubbish Mummy

oh no, you are not a rubbish mummy at all, you poor thing, no sleep is not good for you or LO. May I ask what time he goes to bed, gets up and if he naps in the daytime?? Sounds like he is not hungry if that is what your instict is saying. hat are his nappies like? Does he have diahorrea or constipated or anything?? It sounds to me like you think there is something wrong just not sure what, ave you been in touch with HV? Is LO going down ook and then waking later or does he just not go down well in the first place??

He goes to bed at 7pm, he naps well in the daytime…9-10/10.30 am (if in cot) and then again at 1.30-3 (if in cot) if in pram these naps are shorter, but sometimes has an extra short one about 11 if he has half hour at 9am in pram.

He has increased his intake of milk lately so perhaps he is having a little growth spurt, but i always make more than he needs and he isn;t draining the bottles at each feed. I didn't think he was hungry until a friend mentioned it, i really still don't think he is, otherwise he would need feeding as soon as he wake s for good in the morning.

His nappies are the same as normal…not hard not too loose… he may have one day in 2 weeks where he doesn't poo for a day but usually he has at least 1 poo and ay if not 2! And very occasionally 3!

I havent been in touch with HV cos i really don;t think they will be that much help. I will make a doc appt tomo for him though and also get an appt with the cranial osteopath we saw in the early months when he had colic. All worth a try.

LO is in the mad phase of crawling all over his cot and also trying to stand up on feet and hands with bum in air….so its not been easy putting him to sleep over the last few weeks i have to say. He used to chatter away and squeal until he fell asleep on his own, but now, i have to leave him but generally go in a few times and eventually rub his back and talk soothingly to him until he is almost asleep or actually asleep. I know this isn't recommended but he honestly gets so tired but can;t stop practising his new moves in the cot that he ends up in a state when i leave him to it completely.